28 MEMOIR OF 



the kind attentions of his patron Lord Minto, whc 

 before leaving the East to his successor Lord Moira, 

 procured for him the residency of Fort Marlborough, 

 which gave him the chief rank at Bencoolen *. Before 

 his settlement, however, in this new residency, many 

 vicissitudes of his lot occurred, and we have particu- 

 larly to notice one incident, the first which had af- 

 fected or had appeared to place any blot upon the 

 bright character and fame of Mr Raffles. 



Though at first intimate friends, and acting ap- 

 parently in concert for the interest of the Eastern 

 islands, some differences of opinion had existed 

 between Mr Raffles and General Gillespie ; and af- 

 ter the appointment of the former gentleman to the 

 governorship, the breach seems to have widened. 

 Some acts of administration were complained of, 

 which ended in specific charges being made by the 

 General to the Bengal Government, by whom they 

 were forwarded to Mr Raffles for reply. These 

 charges coming somewhat unexpectedly and per- 

 fectly unmeritedly, were deeply felt. Writing to Lord 

 Minto regarding their want of foundation, he says, 

 " My feelings of the injury I have sustained are not 

 the less acute that I have been denied the means of 

 knowing the charges, until all the influence of a 

 first and ex-parte statement could be exerted, and the 

 current of public feeling allowed to flow unrestrained, 

 until the reports obtained an unmerited credit from 

 the very want of contradiction ;" but he adds, in con- 



The Commander of the Troops at the reduction of Java. 



